Controversial High School Play Sparks Education And Community Outreach
by Kim Glovas
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The high school play which uses the "n-word" has prompted the school district to provide education training and community outreach.
It's all the result of Cherry Hill High School East and its upcoming performance of "Ragtime".
When the language used in the play was brought to his attention, School Superintendent Joseph Meloche understood the concern.
"There is some terrible language in the play. There are racial epithets, specifically the use of the n-word, there's anti-Semitic language, as well as words about specific ethnic groups," he said.
Lloyd Henderson, president of the Camden County East NAACP, said initially there was no room for the n-word. But, he says, "where you highlight the educational prejudicial nature of the word, and then you using it in theater or the arts, then that may be permissible."
The compromise reached between the district and concerned groups: an educational component in school classes, and a community forum.
The actors will also be making statements about the language before and after each show.